THINGS ARE LOOKIN' UP: Mark Sanchez says he has learned "some valuable lessons" from his nightmare in New Orleans that he can use tomorrow night in Miami and beyond. Anthony J. Causi

MIAMI — Minutes after Mark Sanchez had put the finishing touches on the worst performance of his young NFL career last Sunday in New Orleans, he said the tape from that game would be more valuable than any he has watched since becoming a Jet.

Tomorrow night, when the Jets play the Dolphins at Land Shark Stadium, we’ll see how much Sanchez learned from those three interceptions he threw and one fumble he lost against the Saints.

“It’s gone. It’s behind me,” Sanchez said. “I took some valuable lessons from that game and hopefully the next time I’m on the field. I’ll play a lot better.”

“Oh, no doubt he’s back,” coach Rex Ryan said. “Bad games are going to happen. He just has to be himself. He can’t wait for Monday night. He’s ready to go.”

Ryan’s message to Sanchez in his first comeback game after a loss was this: “Turn it loose. Have fun. Play quarterback and rely on your teammates.”

“He’s smart, he’s studying, he’s doing all those types of things, but then game time ought to be fun,” Ryan said. “That’s what this game ought to be about. Obviously, we’ll want to protect the football. I mean, protect the football. Protect the football. Protect the football. Protect the football. No question we want to do that [and] give ourselves a chance to win.

“He’ll play better if he’s having fun and he’s staying loose. He’ll play better and that’s what we want him to do.”

Sanchez, who has had ball security issues, even before his four-turnover performance last week (he has six turnovers in the last two games), said he feels ready to take a step forward.

“The most important thing was to get away from the emotional side,” he said. “Don’t get upset, frustrated or mad at yourself. You have to move on — for yourself and for the rest of the guys in the locker room. Everyone is looking right here [at him]. I’ve shown that I can help this team win the last three weeks and that’s what I need to do [tomorrow].”

He has the confidence of his teammates and coaches.

“He doesn’t have the mentality of a rookie,” tight end Dustin Keller said.

“Mark is a confident guy. [The Saints game] doesn’t shake his confidence,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “It’s all part of the process. I’m not saying this because I’m happy that it happened, but I’m not surprised that a game like [that] happened.

“What he has to do, what he is doing, is he’s learning from it. . . . Every day there is something he learns that makes him a better and more complete quarterback. If he continues to do that, he will have a terrific career.”

Schottenheimer said Sanchez has been “great” this week in practice bouncing back. To some degree, the attention from the Braylon Edwards trade has been a blessing for him because it took a lot of focus off Sanchez’s struggles.

“He was disappointed,” Schottenheimer said. “There were things that he would like to have back. There are things that I would like to have back.”